For Things Unseen
by FrodoFever
Summary: AU Chapter Ten up! Year Six at Hogwarts. Harry starts a new year at Hogwarts with the shadow of what he must do lingering in the future. Will he find his strength to do what he must to save the ones he love?
1. Chapter 1

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter One

The rain pounded hard against the window. The wind was also making a dreary sound, almost as if a ghost was mourning for its loss. This had been keeping up for several hours now, when the night was still young. But Harry, who was bent over a piece of parchment in his room, didn't pay any attention to the weather outside.

Harry sighed and sat up. Placing his quill back into the inkwell, he picked up the paper that he had been bent over for some time and reread what he had written.

_Ron, _

_Hey, thanks for the load of sweets that you sent me for my birthday. It's quite a pleasant change from eating Muggle food every day, especially when the cook is your one and only Aunt Petunia. I hope I'll be able to go over to your house, too, sometime this summer. I hate being here with the Dursleys; they just don't appreciate a wizard in the family. Well, I guess I'll hear from you soon. Say hi to everybody for me. _

Harry 

Harry nodded in satisfaction. There really wasn't anything else he wanted to say to his friend of almost six years. Finding an envelope buried under all of his papers, Harry placed the letter into the envelope and sealed it before writing Ron Weasley on the front of it.

A small hoot from the corner made Harry turn around. He smiled when he saw his owl, Hedwig, sitting on the perch near the window. He got up and went to her, tying the letter to her foot.

"Make sure this gets to Ron, alright?" Harry said to her.

Hedwig looked into his eyes before flying out through the window. As his eyes followed her out, Harry noticed that there was a puddle of water on the floor. He realized with a start that he forgot to close the window. Crossing the room, Harry went to the window and closed the window with a bang. How could he be so stupid?

All of a sudden, a sharp pain seared across Harry's forehead and he clutched his scar in pain. Ever since the end of last year, Harry's scar had been hurting more than ever. It wasn't surprising, really, after all Voldemort was back and was now more than angry than ever before, since Harry had slipped from the Dark Lord's grasp yet again.

A big snore emitted into the still air from the room next door and Harry jumped in the air with surprise before realizing that it was only Dudley, his big oaf of a cousin. Going back to sit on his bed, Harry glanced at the clock. It was 2:30 in the morning. Well, it wasn't as if he had to get up in the morning anyway anymore. His aunt and uncle used to make him get up at a certain hour every morning to cook breakfast. But ever since the end of last year when Moody told the Dursleys off for treating their nephew badly, Harry was finally treated as if he was normal—somewhat at least.

Leaning back against his pillows, Harry looked up at the ceiling, thinking. He had been doing that lately, especially about Sirius. A pang shot through Harry's chest. He always felt a twinge of guilt whenever he thought about his godfather because Harry knew that Sirius's death was he, Harry's fault. If he'd only practiced blocking out his dreams like he was supposed to, then none of this would happen.

A big shadow suddenly darkened Harry's doorway. He jumped up, pulling his wand out quickly. When he saw that it was his Uncle Vernon, Harry sighed with relief. He was beginning to be a bit paranoid about everything nowadays, it seems.

"What are you doing up at this hour of the morning?" Vernon demanded.

"Why does it matter how long I stay up or not? Why are you in here, anyway?" Harry asked.

"The storm's been keeping me up. And I heard you talking with that fool of a bird of yours. Do you think it can talk back or something? And put that thing away before you kill somebody" Vernon exclaimed, pointing to Harry's wand.

Harry pocketed his wand and walked to the window. "I was just telling her where to send the letter I sent."

Harry glanced back at Vernon and noticed that he wanted to say something, probably wanting to say that wasn't allowed, what would the neighbors think, but refrained himself from saying anything of that sort. It seemed like he was afraid Harry would send another letter to one of those psychos from the train and tell them what Vernon said. Harry smiled at the thought of it.

"What are you grinning about?" Vernon growled.

"It's really none of your business, Uncle Vernon. Why don't you go back to bed? It's probably more pleasant than being in here with me," Harry said.

"If I had the sense to knock you stupid, I would," Vernon said.

Harry didn't answer. Vernon was always threatening, but would never go through with them. Seeing that Harry wasn't going to say him back, Vernon harrumphed and stomped back to his own bed. Well, that was Vernon's problem.

Harry went to his bed and pulled back the sheets and climbed in. He'd better get some sleep, though he didn't want to; dreams always plagued him as soon as he fell asleep. But he had to sleep _some_; after all he still had a bunch of homework to do.

Sometime in the middle of the night, a crash sounded in the kitchen. Harry sat up with a gasp. Something was in the house and it had better not be Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters…but they couldn't come here, could they? After all, Harry was protected here, in his mother's sister's home.

The sound crashed again and Harry jumped out of bed with his wand and went out into the hallway where he met Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley standing there huddling together, pale with fright.

"What's happening?" Harry asked them.

They shook their heads and Harry turned back to face the stairs. Whatever it was, he had to go face them, the Dursleys certainly were going to.

Going carefully downstairs, Harry finally reached the doorway of the kitchen. When he saw who was in there, Harry stared in shock. Then he began to laugh. It was the Weasley twins.


	2. Chapter 2

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Two

"What are you two doing here?" Harry asked in shock.

The twins turned and grinned broadly at him. It seemed to Harry that they were always grinning about something, but just the same it made Harry's heart feel lighter because they had the nerve to do things he would never do.

"We just came here to save you from this lot. We figured that a couple of weeks of staying here is enough to make us go crazy," George informed Harry.

"You know you didn't have to do that. Things have been better, honestly," Harry said.

"Why, you want to spend the rest of the summer looking at those three blockheads all summer? Come on, Harry come with us, you'll have much more fun if you do. And anyways, you need to come and see our new joke shop. We wouldn't have done it without you. Heck, we'll even give you a summer job," Fred said.

"You couldn't beat a better life than that, Harry," George added.

Harry sighed and turned to look back up the stairs. To his surprise, Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley were standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the Weasley twins in shock. He didn't blame them; it was an odd thing for someone to turn up in the middle of the night just to have a chat. He grinned when he saw that Dudley, pale with fright was standing behind his father with his hands clamped tightly on the rear. That incident before his first year must have been really traumatic for him.

"May I go and stay with them for the summer? I'm sure you wouldn't mind, you wouldn't have to look at me until next year," Harry exclaimed.

"Do whatever you want, and good riddance," Vernon said.

"Thanks," Harry turned to the twins, "would you mind waiting while I get my stuff? It'll only take about a moment."

"Sure, take all the time you need," George said and Harry pushed past the Dursleys and headed up to his room to get his things.

Several minutes later, Harry dragged down his trunk and Hedwig's birdcage. The owl wasn't back from hunting yet, but Harry had a strange feeling that she'd find her way to wherever Harry was. He loved having an intelligent bird; they know when their owners need them.

Turning to the Dursleys, who were huddling near the wall next to the staircase, Harry said, "See you next summer." And without a backward glance, he followed the twins outside.

"Er, how did you guys get here?" Harry asked.

"We Apparated here. Surely you know how to Apparate, don't you Harry?" Fred asked.

"Of course he can't, Fred, what were you thinking?" George turned to Harry, "He can be a bit stupid sometimes. The only way we're going to do this is make a portkey."

"Uh…doesn't it need to be approved first?" Harry asked skeptically, but he wasn't listening. He and Fred delved into their pockets, with George finally pulling out a key.

"This should work, shouldn't it?" he asked Fred.

Fred nodded. "Practically anything will work, my brother. Allow me." Grabbing the key, he said a curse that Harry had never heard before. He turned to Harry. "Are you ready Harry? Take hold of your things there and touch the key—that's it and off we go."

Suddenly, Harry felt a jolt around his navel and the next thing he knew, he was flying through the air faster than lightening. Just as soon as they left, the three landed with a jolt onto the ground. Feeling his legs collapse, Harry stared up at the night sky, his eyes slightly unfocused. He hadn't done that in a long time.

Sitting up, he realized that he was at the corner of Diagon Alley. Looking up he saw a sign that said Weasleys' Wizard Joke Shop. Harry grinned and stood up beside the twins.

"So you finally got your joke shop up and running?" Harry said to them.

The two of them nodded enthusiastically.

"It's been quite popular, actually. Had to start hiring people as fast as you could please. And it's all thanks to you, my friend," George exclaimed, patting Harry on the back.

"Yeah, we greatly appreciate it. Hey, perhaps you would like to work for us this summer? You'd love it, and anyways, you don't really have anything else to do, do you?" Fred added.

"Would I like it? I would _love_ to! Thanks you guys. This beats being at the Durselys any old day," Harry nearly shouted.

George grinned. "Well, come with us. We'll put your stuff up in our apartment—we live above the shop you see, it saves time and energy away from the shop, not to include money, of course."

"Yeah, we'd be paying for two separate buildings then. Why live far away from our shop when we can live above it?" George agreed as the three of them entered the building.

"Harry! There you are, mate. I was wondering how long it would take them to retrieve you from those dreadful Muggles," a voice said ahead of them.

Harry followed the voice to a counter set up in the corner of the building and grinned when he saw who it was. It was his best friend and fellow sixth year at Hogwarts, Ron Weasely, Fred and George's younger brother.

"Nice to see you too, there, Ron. I wasn't expecting you to be here, of all people," Harry exclaimed, walking up to the counter.

"You mean my brothers didn't tell you they recruited me, as well? But I do say it's better to be here than under Mum's glares all the time," Ron said, grinning.

"Harry, we'll take your things upstairs for you," Fred said, he and George heaving Harry's luggage up the stairs that were behind the counter.

Harry nodded and turned back to his friend. He was so glad to be here—he hadn't realized how much he missed the magic world until now and it was all flooding back to him like a great torrent of water down a waterfall.

"So how are the Dursleys treating you these days?" Ron asked, bringing Harry back to the present.

"Oh, better than last year, though they'll never treat me like a son, obviously," Harry said, examining the objects in the showcase. Not to his surprise, there were many things behind the glass in which the Weasleys had created and sold at Hogwarts, including The Weasleys' Wizard Weezes. Turning back to Ron, Harry said to him, "How much longer do you have to work here until? Maybe we can explore about the place."

"However long Fred and George want me to work here," Ron commented ruefully, "but maybe if you go ahead, I might be able to get them to have mercy on me and I'll catch up with you in a little bit."

Harry nodded. "Fine. See you in a bit, then." And with that, Harry turned and headed out the door to explore see what the wizarding world had in store for him this time.


	3. Chapter 3

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Three

Wandering about Diagon Alley, Harry found himself stifling a yawn. It was not as if he was guilty to being here, but it was all of the same things over and over again. How the people could come here day after day with their faces pressed up against the windows looking at things they can never have or going into Gringotts to get money for what they want. He especially felt sorry for the people who had to work in the shops lining the street on either end. Weren't they bored and wished they could be somewhere else? Heck, they all probably know how many bricks there were on the street.

Coming across the small outdoor café, Harry sat down at one of the tables, the umbrella above him shading him from the glaring sun. A kindly old witch came toddling over and asked Harry what he would like to have. Harry ordered a small ice cream sundae and a huge bottle of Butterbur and the witch hurried off to fix his order.

Gazing lazily down the street, Harry watched the people hurrying from shop to shop as if they had more important things to do. No doubt they probably did, they probably wanted to get home to their families as quick as possible. It wasn't safe to leave the family alone when the most famous Dark Wizard of all time roamed the streets. Nobody was safe.

Something caught the corner of Harry's eye. When he saw who it was, Harry groaned. It was Draco Malfoy, his archenemy at school. Malfoy terrified and tormented all those who he didn't consider "worthy" to be at Hogwarts, hoping against hope that they'd soon leave and that pure bloods could run the school. But it wasn't just Draco that thought this, it was his whole family—Lucius was a known Death Eater for Voldemort.

"Well, well, look who it is, the _famous_ Harry Potter," Draco sneered as he caught Harry sitting at the café. Grabbing the nearest chair, Draco pulled up the chair close to Harry. "So tell me, Potter, still thinking you can save all the Mudbloods? Want to be as famous as Dumbledore? Well, trust me, you're on the wrong side of the fight. You're going to wish you had come to _my_ side."

"Go eat some slugs, Malfoy," Harry growled.

"Was that a threat, Potter? Because if it was, my father's just over in Gringotts and will come if he hears you threatening me," Malfoy sneered.

"Does it look like I'm afraid of your family, Draco? If I was, I would be running away scared already," Harry commented simply, trying hard not to punch Malfoy in the face.

"_Harry_! I didn't know you were here. I thought you were still at the Dursleys—" Hermione's voice stopped short as she came hurrying over to him, and seeing Malfoy she glared. "What do you think you're doing with Harry, Malfoy?"

"Just having a little chat with Potter here. Is that illegal now to talk to him, Mudblood?" Malfoy returned the glare.

"Well, I'd watch if I were you, you know who you're dealing with right? Harry here could knock you flat before you knew what happened to you. I remember quite well what happened on the train home last year—" Hermione began.

Malfoy's face darkened with angry. He had clearly not forgotten and probably never would for a long time. Harry hoped that Malfoy wouldn't, or Harry'd have to remind him again, only be much harsher…

"Draco, let's go, I've got things to do."

Malfoy jumped and Harry glanced over his shoulder and scrambled up. It was Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. It looked like Lucius wasn't at all happy with the company that Draco was keeping right at the moment.

"But father, didn't you just hear what this Mudblood's saying about me? She's _threatening me_, father!" Draco cried out.

"Do you really let a Mudblood's words get to you, Draco? You are of a pure blood family and have high standing order, just remember that, Son. Now as for you," Lucius turned to Harry and Hermione, "if I see you around my son threatening him ever again, I'll personally have you wish you never did."

With that, father and son scurried off, disappearing into the crowd. Harry growled and clenched his hands into fists.

"Oh, I wish I could have a good one at them—" Harry growled.

"Please, Harry, don't go crazy over it, it's nothing, really. Just forget about it," Hermione pleaded.

Finally unclenching his fists and turning back to Hermione, he finally gave her a disgruntled smile. Best keep her happy, after all.

"So what _are_ you doing here, Harry?" Hermione asked sitting down next to Harry chair and ordering a large Butterbur.

Harry sighed and sat back down in his seat. "Fred and George Weasely have kind of recruited me to work in their joke shop this summer and I've only just arrived a while ago."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "You shouldn't encourage them, Harry. I wouldn't work for them."

"It wasn't of my own choice!" Harry said, diving into the ice cream that had just been placed in front of him. "And anyways, it's a much better diversion than being at the Dursley's."

"_Being there's for your own protection_!" Hermione stared at Harry in horror. "You know that the war's just beginning. You're acting like this is all a game, but this is very serious! This is more than just wizard's chess or sneaking out into the night, you could get captured, tortured, killed—"

"Don't be a prat, Hermione. Let me enjoy something out of this summer. This might be my last one for all I know," Harry glared at Hermione.

Hermione looked down at her drink sadly. Harry sat back in satisfaction. He finally had the last word for once. Just then, Ron appeared, through the crowds and plopped down next to Harry.

"I've been looking all over for you, Harry, the shop's been really busy—what are you doing here, Hermione?" Ron asked, noticing her for the first time.

"If you want to know, I've decided to come here and stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the summer. My mum and dad are going on a business trip and can't take me along with me and had me come here, if you _must_ know," Hermione said pointedly.

"Well, good, you can help Harry and I in Fred and George's joke shop. The shop's really booming and it's hard to keep up. It's amazing they haven't found permanent workers yet. Sorry about breaking my promise, but I need to get back to shop instead of wandering around with you, and I was told to recruit you back to the shop to help," Ron said.

"I really don't think you should—" Hermione began, but the two of them already disappeared into the crowd. She threw up her hands in disgust and followed them into the thickening crowd.


	4. Chapter 4

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Four

It seemed to Harry that the days flew a whole lot quicker now that he was here in his own world. Every day it seemed that if he wasn't working in the Weasleys' Wizard Joke Shop, he was either finishing up his homework, getting next year's books, or hanging out with Ron and Hermione. All too soon it seemed, September 5 loomed over Harry in just over a week.

Harry sat in a chair in front of the joke shop, his feet up and his eyes half-closed, enjoying the last rays of the day. It was another long day in the coalmine, but to Harry, it couldn't have been even better. He wished that the summer could stretch on forever, or at least a little bit longer, but at the same time he didn't. Who wouldn't want to go back to Hogwarts?

Hearing someone walking towards him, Harry opened his eyes all the way and turned in his chair to see who it was. He smiled complacently when he saw that it was Hermione. Pulling up a chair beside him, Harry motioned for her to come and sit with him. She always came to sit with him after the Weasleys closed up shop for the day.

Sitting down beside him, Hermione sat motionless for several moments. Harry glanced at her curiously. She was never this quiet, in fact she was always chattering about something or other, usually about how ridiculous the Weasley twins were getting, but usually with affection.

Unable to wait for her to say anything any longer, Harry finally spoke up. "What's the matter, Hermione?"

Hermione gave a sad smile. "I was watching you work today and I couldn't help but thinking how great a person you've been, Harry. You're the greatest wizard there ever was and then I started thinking about everything that's happened over the last couple of years and then I thought of you and your future and oh, Harry," she wailed, throwing her arms around him and burying her face into his shoulder, "I'm so afraid that I'll never see you again."

Harry blinked and slowly lifted his hand to pat Hermione's back. It surprised him to see Hermione this way, after all she rarely, if ever, got truly upset like this. Well, there were new things to everything, he guessed.

"Look, Hermione, don't be panicking on me already. I'm going to survive, all right? I'm going to defeat Voldemort and I'm going to graduate from Hogwarts in all in one piece and we'll all be best of friends long after Hogwarts. I promise. If I don't, well, we'll get to that part later," Harry managed to say through Hermione's gripping hug.

Finally pulling away from Harry, Hermione smiled through her tear-stained face. Wiping her face, Hermione sniffed.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I don't know what got into me; I've never done such a thing before—not since Ron said I didn't have any friends in my first year," Hermione exclaimed.

"It's quite all right, we all have our ups and downs, I guess," Harry said, still shocked from what had just happened.

"Of course. I knew you'd understand Harry," Hermione said, standing up, "I best be going, I promised everybody I'd go and get something for us to eat tonight."

Harry nodded. "Alright, then."

Hermione smiled and headed down Diagon Alley. Harry watched after her quietly, wondering why women were always so emotional. Standing up, he headed back inside and going behind the counter, he climbed up the narrow stairs. He needed to talk to Ron, and desperately.

Reaching the living room of the apartment, Harry noticed that Fred and George were sitting in front of the coffee table, counting up their money for the day. When they looked up to see who it was, they grinned.

"We made a busload today, Harry," George said excitedly.

"Yeah, all thanks to you, Harry," Fred exclaimed.

"I didn't do anything," Harry said, "Do you know where Ron is?"

George shrugged. "I haven't a clue. He's probably in his room, finishing up last minute homework tidbits. The crazy oaf, taking after us, but that's not a bad thing to be truthful."

Harry nodded and headed down the hallway. Ron's room was the last room on the right, right next to Harry's own bedroom. Knocking the door and hearing a "Come in" from within the room, Harry went inside.

George's guess was right, Ron WAS finishing up last minute homework tidbits. Harry grinned at Ron's mad dash at writing his homework. His red hair was frizzled from continuously running his hand through it. His hands and face were covered in ink and his forehead was sweating.

"Still haven't finished your homework yet, Ron?" Harry asked jokingly as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You have room to talk, you're always spending the last minute doing homework," Ron grumbled.

"Not in the summer holidays. I'll let you copy if you want," Harry said.

"Gee, thanks, Harry. I'll do that later, then," Ron closed his Potions book and threw it on the floor beside him, "So what's new?"

Harry told Ron about what just happened with Hermione. When he was finished, Ron looked as baffled as Harry was.

"Well, that was surely different. Well, you know, she IS a girl after all, and you know how they have to be emotionally attached to everything," Ron finally responded.

"But Hermione _never_ acts that way," Harry said doubtfully.

"Yeah, well, she's just like everybody other girl, you finally think you're understanding them girls and then all of a sudden, they do something totally unexpected, leaving you totally baffled and trying to figure them out again," Ron assured Harry.

"Thanks for that little tidbit," Harry said, "but that doesn't explain anything."

Ron just shrugged. "That is our plight, Harry. You won't ever figure them out."

Just then, the Weasley twins roared that Hermione was back and dinner was officially being served. Knowing if they didn't go now, they wouldn't get anything, Ron and Harry rose and headed towards the kitchen. Along the way, Harry silently agreed with Ron. He would never figure girls out, not now, and certainly not ever.


	5. Chapter 5

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Five

Standing on Platform 9 ¾, Harry looked around while watching the activity that was going on. He loved watching the hustle and bustle, letting it fill him up and feel the magic and excitement there was to going back to Hogwarts again. It was really the only thing that he looked foreword to and help him forget about his family.

After a couple of minutes, Harry turned to Hermione and Ron, who were handing their luggage to a nearby carter.

"We better get on and find a place to sit, it's almost time to leave," Harry said to them.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Ron said.

"Harry, um, we can't sit with you in the beginning. Prefects have to be at the beginning to get instructions and such. I hope you won't be too upset," Hermione said timidly.

Harry felt his heart sink. He had forgotten that Ron and Hermione were prefects and had to sit at the front of the train on the way to Hogwarts in the beginning. He remembered all to well at the beginning of last year when he had felt jealousy and rage because of his best friends' being prefects. In fact, Harry hadn't been a very good friend last year and could understand why Hermione was fearful right now to what his reaction might be.

Harry shrugged. "Ok. I'll just go and find a seat and save you two a couple when you come back. I'll be waiting, patiently."

Hermione smiled in relief. "Ok, then. We'll be back in a few minutes, don't worry."

"Yeah, it's a real bother, believe me. You're lucky you're not one," Ron added to reassure him.

"Yeah, well, see you." Harry turned and climbed up the steps into the train. Finding an empty compartment at the end of the train, Harry went in and sat down, glancing out the window silently, his elbow resting on the windowsill and his head resting on his hand. This reminded him of his first train trip to Hogwarts, when he was uncertain of whether he would be accepted or not. But now it seemed as if he were accepted by almost everyone. Then in his third year he met his godfather and hoped that he would someday live with him and have a fatherly figure to look up at.

Sirius. Harry squeezed his eyes shut before opening them up again. He could never think about his godfather without almost breaking down and cry. He wished that he hadn't been so stupid as to let Sirius get into such a trap.

"Oh, look, everybody, it's Potter. What's the matter, Potter, did your friends abandon you? Maybe they couldn't take your celebrity status anymore. I wouldn't blame them, I'm quite sick of it, myself," Malfoy's voice rang out at the compartment door.

Glaring at his archenemy, Harry exclaimed, "Shut up, Malfoy, nobody wants to hear your boasting."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "You better watch your mouth, Potter, I could do some serious damage to your reputation, you know."

Harry feigned fearfulness. "Oh I'm so scared. I should watch where I step from now on, won't I? I'd love to see you try."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll be seeing it soon. Someday, you'll wish you'd never said that," Malfoy said.

Turning, Malfoy left the compartment and disappeared down the train. Harry shook his head. Some people Harry looked foreword to do without after Hogwarts. After several moments, Ron and Hermione appeared at the compartment and sat down beside Harry.

"That was a total waste of time. Trust me, Harry, I'll switch you positions any time, if you'd like," Ron complained, kicking his shoes off.

"If you'd like to defeat Voldemort for me, then go right ahead, I wouldn't mind. Being a prefect will be easy compared to that," Harry grumbled.

Ron and Hermione paled when they heard Voldemort's name, but didn't mention anything. Harry felt grim satisfaction that Ron looked as if he'd had second thoughts and decided that being a prefect was the better of the too, and much better at that.

"But I'm sure Harry will have no trouble defeating…_Voldemort_ when the time comes," Hermione finally spoke up.

"Yeah, whatever," Harry muttered under his breath.

Ron suddenly pulled out his chessboard. "Want to have a go at chess, Harry? I'm sure you'll win this time."

"Sure," Harry complied and the two of them started off into a game of chess while Hermione sat long ways on the seat across from them knitting some clothes with Crookshanks on her lap. Anything right now was better than talking about the future.


	6. Chapter 6

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Six

Several hours later, the Hogwarts Express finally reached the Hogwarts station. Standing and stretching, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepped out onto the platform. Not for the first time did Harry realized how much he missed being here.

"Firs' years, this way! Firs' years, c'mon now, dun be shy, now!" a voice bellowed out after the noisy crowd.

Harry grinned. Good old Hagrid, one could always trust that the big, kind-hearted man would be there to greet the first years, as well as the rest of the student body every year. Except for last year, of course, when Hagrid had a mission for Dumbledore.

Saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione temporarily, Harry trotted up to Hagrid. He had to say hello to his old friend, the one who had introduced Harry to his world, the one that Harry knew was his own world and not the world of Muggles.

"Hi, Hagrid," Harry exclaimed brightly.

Hagrid merely grunted, his usual bright and cheery face grim. "Hello, there, Harry. I can' talk to you now, I have to get these firs' years up to the castle for the Sorting, if you follow me."

"Of course, I was just seeing if you were alright, is all," Harry said bewildered.

"You move along, now, Harry, I'll see you up at the castle," Hagrid said sternly.

Harry nodded and allowed the crowd to sweep him to the carriages that would carry them all up to the castle. Finally finding Ron and Hermione again sitting in a carriage already, Harry climbed up to join them.

"Hagrid was acting a bit odd, tonight, as if he was worried about something—" Harry told them.

"I would be, too, if Voldemort was on the run again," Hermione said sharply.

Harry looked at Hermione closely. "Are you alright? What could possibly make you angry in the short time I was away?" Harry turned to Ron, who was glancing down at his lap fixedly. "What's going on, here?" Harry demanded.

Ron finally looked up. "Harry, we don't see the horses—those thestles or whatever they were called."

"Now why in hell would you two be so worried about that? It isn't something to be proud about," Harry said harshly.

"We weren't, not at all, but, Harry, we should've seen these horses because, well, you know, because of _Sirius_," Hermione said nervously.

"She's got a point, you know," Ron said, "if Sirius had really died last year, we would've of seen these horses, here."

"This can't be possible," Harry muttered to himself. They did have a point, and yet he never really thought about it until just now. It was true that if they saw death, they'd be able to see the horses, but they didn't. Did that mean that Sirius was still alive somewhere, hiding out? Maybe that's why he didn't answer that little two-way mirror thing that he gave Harry, because he couldn't risk saying anything just yet.

Harry looked up at Hermione and Ron. "So that means that—"

"He might be alive," Ron finished. "He might be camping out somewhere, too afraid to scare anyone because they all think he's dead. He's just waiting for the time that's right."

Harry felt his hopes beginning to rise. At least something good's going to happen to him. Digging through his pocket, Harry pulled out his two-way mirror. Turning it every which way, he watched as the light glinted off the surface.

"Harry, what exactly is that?" Hermione asked.

"It's a two-way mirror. Sirius gave it to me the day we left for Hogwarts at Christmas, do you remember?" Harry said.

"I remember him giving a small package, but I didn't think too much about it, after all, it was something between you two," Ron exclaimed.

Harry looked at both Hermione and Ron seriously, trying to analyze what to do. "I tried using it near the end of school last year, but I didn't get an answer."

"Maybe he wasn't in a position to talk to you right then," Ron suggested.

"That's what I was thinking. Maybe I should try it now, he might be in a safer location now," Harry said.

"No," Hermione said suddenly and firmly.

"What?" Ron and Harry asked at the same time, both in surprise.

"I don't think you should use it, Harry. What if the enemy for some reason captured Sirius and the other mirror is in the wrong hands? They'll know how to communicate with you and get to you easily," Hermione pleaded with him.

"Don't be daft, Hermione, this might be the only way Harry can communicate with Sirius," Ron said, looking as if he got chased by an angry, wet hen.

"Maybe so, but Harry can't be taking any chances," Hermione argued.

Just then, the carriage stopped in front of Hogwarts' doors and Harry jumped out of the carriage quickly. Behind him, Ron and Hermione continued to argue back and forth between them, but Harry didn't notice or care. All he cared about right now was getting through the Sorting and the feast so he could go up to his dormitory and have a go at the mirror.

Finally reaching the Great Hall, Harry hurried over to the Griffyndor table and sat down. Glancing up at the main table, Harry smiled when he saw Hagrid. Seeing him, Hagrid waved slightly before engaging a conversation with Professor McGonagall. Sighing, Harry turned foreword again. He'd have to talk to Hagrid later.

Finally, after a few quick words, Dumbledore sat down and the food appeared. Harry quickly scarfed down his food. Beside him, Ron and Hermione were giving each other the cold shoulder and trying not to look at each other. Harry shook his head. Sometimes he didn't know about his friends.

Finally, about an hour later, Dumbledore stood up and the whole room fell silent. With a sweeping glance around the room, he finally spoke.

"I have some grave news to tell you before you head off to your dormitories," Dumbledore boomed out.

Harry glanced at Ron. "I wonder what this grave news is about?"

Ron shrugged. "I don't know."

"We have a new Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher, as you've probably fathomed last year, but I am afraid that some of you will be in for a surprise at who it is, after all, he had been in the news several years ago. I ask of you all to give him the utmost respect as any other teacher in this building as well as any other teacher that has gone before him," Dumbledore continued on. Turning to Argus Filch, who was standing beside the Entrance Doors, motioned Filch to open them. "I now present your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher—"

As Filch pulled the doors open, Harry noticed a tall, broad shouldered man with long, tangled black hair. As his features became more distinct as he stepped into the room, Harry gaped in shock. This couldn't be—

"Professor Sirius Black," Dumbledore finished.

The Hall suddenly erupted in loud whisperings and several people pointed to Sirius, who was standing tall and proud before the whole school. Harry glanced at Hermione and Ron.

"How did he manage that?" he asked in a whisper.

"I don't know, but he sure is going to have a hard time getting the respect that Dumbledore advised of everybody," Hermione whispered back.

"I would like to say that Professor Black has been cleared of all charges and found not guilty of his charge of murder. You all will treat him like any other teacher, as I have emphasized before. He will be teaching immediately," Dumbledore said. "Now, it's getting quite late and you all need to head off to bed. Prefects, lead your houses to your dormitories."

Everybody stood and began hurrying out the Great Hall doors as Sirius went up to talk to Dumbledore. Harry started to go towards him, but Ron grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Not now," Ron said in a low tone, "people will find it odd and suspicious if you go up there now."

Harry nodded, seeing his friend's point. As he followed the rest of the Gryffindors up the stairs to the dormitories, Harry made a resolution to go see Sirius as soon as he possibly could, no matter what.


	7. Chapter 7

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Seven

It turned out that Harry couldn't get a chance to see Sirius until later that week, as much as Harry wanted to go find him and talk to him. Hermione and Ron had suggested that Harry wait until Defense Against the Dark Arts class to talk to him, which was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Thursday finally came and Harry stared at the clock on the wall in each classroom, impatient for the morning to end so he could go straight to Sirius' room. There was so much that he wanted to say to his godfather that it was nearly unbearable.

When the bell for Herbology class to end, Harry grabbed his bag and hurried off towards the castle, barely waiting for Ron and Hermione. He was nearly to the castle doors when Hermione caught up with him and grabbed his arm.

"Harry, wait up," Hermione panted, "You're not in that much of a hurry, are you?"

"Hermione, I've got to go see Sirius, I can't wait to see him for one more minute longer. I've waited for a little over three months thinking he's dead and then he shows up on the first day of school and I can't even _talk_ to him?" Harry all but shouted.

Ron, who had finally caught up to the both of them, stood wiping his sweaty brow. He looked like he was about to pass out from the running he did across the schoolyard.

"You know, she does have a point. There's no hurry at all. Sirius is still going to be there after lunch," Ron exclaimed.

Harry sighed and punched a fist in his opened hand. "What's gotten into you two, lately? Just last year, you two would've gone with me anywhere, and now you're acting as if everything's normal."

"But Harry, this year's different. Nobody was trying to kill you last year," Hermione said nervously.

"Oho, nobody was trying to kill me last year? Hm…I guess being aimed at with a killing curse isn't in anyway trying to kill me, is it? Oh, yeah, it happens all the time, I'm sure, but this year's different," Harry growled.

"Harry, we—" Ron began.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU GUYS THINK! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE A MADMAN KILL YOUR PARENTS, LIVE WITH THE MOST DISGUSTING RELATIVES EVER KNOWN TO HUMAN BEINGS AND THEN WHEN YOU FIND OUT YOU HAVE A GODFATHER, HE ENDS UP SO CALLED DEAD FOR MORE THAN THREE MONTHS AND THEN HAVE HIM COME BACK ALIVE!" Harry shouted out.

"Harry, you're misunderstanding us—" Hermione began.

"OH, SO NOW I'M BEING MISUNDERSTAND?" Harry shouted.

"_Harry_! Lower your tone, please. This _is_ a school after all," a voice said behind them.

Harry turned around and gaped. Sirius was standing quietly at the top of the stairs, his hands at his sides, sad eyes staring at his godson. This was just what Harry wanted was Sirius catching Harry in the act of having anger management problems. Have a yelling fit for a nice greeting as to say hi have a nice day.

Glancing around, Harry noticed that a small crowd had gathered around Harry when he started having a fit. Looking back up at Sirius, Harry sighed.

"I'm sorry, professor, just a mishap. I shouldn't have yelled," Harry said.

"Come with me, Harry, I need to talk to you in my office," Sirius looked at everybody else, "the rest of you will go to lunch. There's nothing more to see here."

Everybody grumbled as they pushed passed Harry and past Sirius to go inside. Ron and Hermione stood close to Harry, hoping that they'd be able to go with him to Sirius' office. When everybody left, Sirius stared at Ron and Hermione.

"I think it's best that you two go up to lunch, too. Under normal circumstances I would've let you come, but I would like to have a private word with Harry. He did point out that we haven't seen each other in a little over three months," Sirius told them.

"But Sirius," Ron began but Sirius held up a hand to silence him.

"Go to lunch, now," he said.

Hermione pulled on Ron's shirt and the two of them left quietly. Somehow she knew that this was something private only between godfather and godson.

After the two of them disappeared, Sirius motioned for Harry to follow them and the two of them headed up to Sirius' office. After reaching the room, Sirius closed the door behind them and sat down behind his desk. Harry stood beside the door for several moments, staring at his godfather. It had been so long, too long, even for three months. Suddenly the emotions welled up in him and Harry grabbed onto the handle to make sure he didn't fall over.

"Sirius, I've missed you so much, when I thought you were dead, I couldn't take it—what happened down there? Lupin said you died, but I didn't want to believe it, and I wanted to help you, but—" Harry rushed out, trying to get everything out at once.

Sirius smiled. "Whoa, slow down there, Harry. You're probably wondering what's been happening and where I've been all of this time. But sit down and stay a while. There'll be time for everything."

Harry couldn't help but smile back and sat down in the chair across the desk from Sirius, feeling in a daze. Sirius was alive and he was _sitting right in front of him_! After several moments of silence, Sirius stood up and began pacing around the room.

"It was so long, I felt that I was down there for what seemed like a long time. The voices, they were horrible, whispering and laughing. Every bone in my body felt like it was going to break—they felt so delicate. I don't know how long I was down there, probably an eternity…And then I felt somebody pulling me up and up and I saw this bright light and the face of a man, and then," Sirius turned sharply towards Harry, "I blacked out and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a bed here at Hogwarts with Dumbledore standing at the foot of my bed, smiling and saying 'It's about time you woke up'."

Harry stared at Sirius in shock. All of that happened to his godfather? But how could that be possible? The Veil didn't seem all that dangerous, but maybe that's why it was called the Department of Mysteries. Suddenly Harry felt a tingling on the back of his neck. For some reason, Harry knew that Sirius wasn't telling him everything. But Harry didn't blame him; Sirius probably went through a whole lot more and didn't want to give Harry nightmares until the end of his days.

"It must have been terrible," Harry murmured.

"Oh, it was. You don't know how many times I wanted to die, but couldn't—couldn't do anything," Sirius said. "But let's not think about that. I'm alive and that's all that matters. I'm just so glad to see you again!"

Sirius rushed around the desk and nearly lifting Harry out of his chair, gave him a huge bear hug. Harry grunted and felt the air leave him, but gave Sirius a pat on the back. Finally, after seemed like eternity, Harry felt Sirius let him go and Harry sat down with a grunt.

"So, Harry, tell me everything. What happened after I disappeared? And tell me about your summer—I bet it was terrible, but I promise you're going to come and live with me this summer," Sirius exclaimed.

Harry then launched into what he'd been up to, how Moody and company came with him to see the Dursleys to tell them off and treat Harry like someone decent this summer and how the summer what somewhat better than the summer before and how his grief for Sirius plagued him all summer though he tried to move on. When Harry was finished, Sirius sat back with a sigh.

"That sure was a different summer than the one before, if I can make that assumption," Sirius said with a smile.

"Yeah." Harry sat quietly for several moments. Looking up at Sirius again, Harry said, "Sirius, how did you become a professor?"

Sirius grinned. "Dumbledore thought I was the best person for the job, since I experienced first hand. Of course I had to do some studying, brush up on a few things, but I'm good to go, I think. And anyways, Dumbledore thinks that I'd be safer here, plus I can watch over you when he can't. Now enough questions and let me ask one. How come you didn't come to see me earlier this week?"

Harry had a feeling that that question was going to come to that sometime in this meeting. So he launched into everything about how Ron and Hermione were persuading him to not come and see Sirius because they thought it wasn't best, that it would be suspicious.

"I don't know why it would be so suspicious to come and talk to you," Harry concluded.

"Well, I can sort of understand where they're coming from. For one, they still think I'm a murderer who escaped a high security prison and shouldn't have been cleared of all charges. That would make you look bad. And also perhaps they were afraid that Voldemort was going to jump out from behind a knight of armor and try to kill you without them," Sirius explained.

"But he wouldn't try anything with Dumbledore around, would they? And anyways, I don't care what others think about me as long as I get to talk to you," Harry exclaimed, fidgeting with a stray string connected to the seat.

"I understand you completely, Harry, but sometimes we must follow the rules of society," Sirius stated.

"Such as?" Harry asked.

"Such as going down to lunch and grabbing something quick to eat before the lesson begins. I don't want you to not pay attention to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year just because you were up here the whole time. They would think I was starving you on purpose," Sirius smiled.

Harry nodded, stood, and looked at his watch. He had half an hour before the lesson started.

"I'll be back in a minute then. See you," Harry said.

"Bye," Sirius said and Harry hurried out of the door towards the Great Hall with a smile on his face and a light of heart. Nothing could stop him now.


	8. Chapter 8

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Eight

Sirius stood in front of the class, glancing around at the people that he would be teaching for the upcoming year, and probably in years to come. To him, it seemed like half the class seemed too scared to sit any closer than halfway up the room. Only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville dared to sit up in the front desks, and their actions were causing furtive glances at each other as if wondering if they were mad to be sitting so close to a murderer.

Finally, the bell for class to start rang and Sirius began to pace around the room, noticing how the eyes of all the students watched his every move, as if he'd do something if they didn't keep their eyes on him. If Sirius felt like an outcast before, he certainly felt like one now, and it was rather uncomfortable.

"I'm sure that I don't need to tell you all of who I am and why I am here," Sirius began and everybody sat up in rapt attention, "I am Professor Sirius Black and I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year and possibly next year, as well. I do not doubt that you all are tired of having a new teacher for this class every year, so I will plan on sticking it out so you'll have at least the same teacher for the last two years of Hogwarts."

As Harry listened to everything that Sirius was saying, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride that his godfather was a professor here at school and so far, Sirius was doing a pretty good job of it. Harry just wished that the rest of the class would just lighten up a bit and stop acting like Sirius was going to kill everybody. After all, he had been cleared of all charges and was proven innocent, so why should people be so scared? But like people said, change couldn't just happen overnight. _And_ it would be a nice change to have the same teacher for more than one year at a time for once. Harry was sure it had to be done.

"Since Professor Dumbledore figured I was the best at the job, I expect that each and every one of you will learn a lot by the end of the year to be able to defend yourselves, as I'm sure it'll come in use since we're living in a dangerous time right now," Sirius was saying, "if you learn anything at all in here, you'll at least know something about defending yourselves."

Glancing over at Hermione, Harry noticed that she was nodding at what he was saying and scribbling everything down in a notebook as fast as he was talking. Harry just shook his head. Sometimes he had to think that she was just a tad bit _obsessed_ with learning and what people were saying. But Harry was grateful for the way she was, or he'd never have been able to finish his homework in the years past.

As Harry slid back into the present time, he heard that Sirius was starting on about the history of the Dark Arts and of Dark Wizards and battles. Looking around, Harry noticed that everybody was sitting in an upright attention, obviously getting interested in this sort of stuff. Personally, Harry didn't think that the history of Dark Arts and the masters were the important thing at hand. Personally Harry would rather be practicing things that would help protecting him against Voldemort. What if he did manage to get into the school? Then all the Muggle-born would be dead and the others would might as well be, except for the Slytherins, of course.

"…And of course the most famous Dark Wizard of all time is Voldemort," Sirius as saying.

Harry rolled his eyes at this. Who didn't know that Voldemort was the most famous Dark Wizard of all time? Many people had gasped when Voldemort's name was said, but Harry didn't pay attention. Harry raised his hand high in the air. Sirius nodded in Harry's direction, allowing him to speak.

"Excuse me, sir, but why are we learning about the history of the Dark Arts and the famous Dark Wizards? What's it got to do with learning how to defend ourselves against Voldemort, who is currently out there somewhere? I would personally like to learn some defense moves or something in case I unfortunately run into him on my own without Dumbledore around?" Harry exclaimed loudly.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask that, Harry. Yes, of course learning practical spells are important. But I thought I might begin with a little history of it. Learning about the Dark Arts' history might entail you to know why such things as Voldemort happen. It just helps you know why things happen the way they do. We'll be learning practical defense moves next week," Sirius said confidently.

"But professor—what if something happens before next week? Most of us will be unprepared—" Harry protested.

"I understand, Harry, but there'll be nothing we can do about it, can we? I am sure that most of you will be able to turn to one another for help in the following week if you feel that you need some extra training. But until next week, we will not be learning any practical magic," Sirius interrupted.

Harry sighed and leaned back in his chair as Sirius continued on with his lesson. It wasn't all that bad, but with the way the situation was now, Harry was feeling suddenly paranoid and unsafe. Sirius, of all people, knew that Voldemort was out there and it was best to teach everything he could to defend the students in this school.

Finally, what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang and Harry hurried off to the Gryffindor common room, desperate to get down to dinner and then go to his dormitory and have time to think. There was too much to think about.

"Harry, wait up!" Ron panted as he reached Harry.

Harry sighed and slowed to a halt as Ron came puffing up. Now what did he want?

"Harry, what's the matter? You've been a bit odd lately, ever since we came back to school. What's wrong?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Now, c'mon, mate, I'm your best friend, you can tell me anything. And anyways, we've done everything together, so you might as well tell me," Ron pointed out.

"I don't know. I've had a great time over the summer and everything, but as soon as I got here, I remembered that I'm a part of a prophecy and that I must learn everything that I can or our whole life as we know it will change and never be the same. I should have been working on spells and enchantments over the summer the Muggle world must have changed me because as soon as I came back to this world, I was so excited that I didn't do anything. But now I'm in Hogwarts I realize that I need to keep a go on or I won't defeat Voldemort," Harry exclaimed.

"But Harry, Voldemort's not going to try and kill you this year, is he?" Ron gulped, "I sure hope not because I don't think I could handle Hermione all by myself for a whole year next year."

Finally Harry had to smile. He knew that Ron would probably go psycho with Hermione's persistence with studying and learning. Harry knew that all too well when Harry and Ron became temporary enemies a couple of years ago because Ron was jealous of Harry being famous and all Harry had was Hermione to hang around with. She was a nightmare, because of their different study habits.

Harry patted Ron on the back. "I'm sure he won't try and get me this year, Ron. I couldn't leave you to Hermione. It's just that I'm a little paranoid about everything and I want so much for everything to go back to normal that I want to learn all the spells there is so I can defeat him."

Ron nodded weakly. "You're right. Maybe I'm being a little paranoid, also. But anyways, let's go to supper, shall we?"

Harry nodded and the two of them headed off. But as they walked down the halls, Harry felt a sinking sensation that he wasn't so sure that he would get away without seeing Voldemort this year and that if he did, Harry might not be able to survive the attack.


	9. Chapter 9

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Nine

The next day went slowly for Harry. It was made slower by the fact that he had Double Potions in the morning and Divination in the afternoon. To Harry, there couldn't be a worse day.

At lunch, Harry was eating his food rather fixedly. Potions had gotten off to a bad start when Malfoy commented on the fact that the only reason Dumbledore hired Sirius was because he had killed thirteen people and was probably in close hands with Voldemort. Harry had rushed to Malfoy in anger, using his fists to clobber Malfoy in the head. His outburst had cost him 20 points from Gryffindor and two nights detention.

"You know you deserved that, don't you, Harry?" Hermione was saying, bringing Harry back to the present. "You really should try and control your temper, it'll cost you something awful someday."

"And what was he supposed to do, stand aside and let Sirius be insulted by that great oaf?" Ron asked angrily.

"He could have taken it differently! He could have went to Professor Snape or somebody and tell them what Malfoy was saying," Hermione snorted, her cheeks flushed red.

"I don't think Snape would do anything, even if I told him, Hermione. He favors the Slytherins too much and hates Sirius with a passion. He would probably have thought Malfoy's comments to be funny," Harry said in a low tone.

"Even still, you should have taken a better control of the situation," Hermione said pointedly.

"I think it's time for us to head up to Divination now, wouldn't you say, Harry? You know how it takes us an awful long time to get up there," Ron said loudly.

"I agree," Harry said, eager to get out of Hermione's stern gaze.

"Just remember what I said, Harry!" Hermione called after them as they hurried out of the Great Hall towards the Divination class.

"I can't believe she has the nerve to say that," Ron seethed, "she hates Malfoy as well and now she's defending him!"

"Well, that's Hermione for you and her love of rules," Harry said as he pushed open the door to the Divination class. Firenze was still the Divination teacher since last year and though the classes were much better than Trewlawney's, Harry still hated the class.

Firenze was standing in the middle of the classroom as the class entered the room and took seats around the giant centaur. Harry and Ron made their way to the nearest tree that, as everything else in the room was, had been magically grown to look like a forest, and sat down, leaning against the enormous trunk. If there was one think that Harry liked about this class, it was the fact that he could sit in comfort instead of sitting in a chair for a whole hour.

"Welcome back to Divination!" Firenze exclaimed as everyone finally settled down, "I hope you all had a safe summer back in your respected homes."

Everyone murmured that they did and Firenze nodded in satisfaction. "I was hoping that you all did considering the dangers at hand. For this lesson I would like to teach you all about the art of correctly interpreting the stars, as last term we had done the planets. Would everyone please turn to page 394 in their books?"

Harry sighed and turned to the page along with everyone else. He somehow knew this was going to be a long class today.

Back in the Gryffindor common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the corner table by the window working steadily at their homework. Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione were still not talking to each other, but were giving each other glares when the other wasn't looking. Finally Harry closed his book with a loud bang and the two of them jumped in surprise.

"I think I've had enough," Harry said, "I'm going down to see Hagrid while you two finish up."

"But Harry, that's really dangerous—" Hermione began.

"I don't care if the boogeyman's waiting to jump out at me from behind a bush, I'm going down and anyways, it's broad daylight. Voldemort's not going to try to do anything in broad daylight," Harry said firmly.

He stormed out of the common room and climbing out of the portrait, Harry headed down the staircase to the Entrance Hall. To his surprise when he reached there, Harry met Professor McGonagall along the way. Rarely did he find her pacing the Entrance Hall as if she were expecting somebody to appear.

"Mr. Potter, what do you think you're doing down here at this time of the afternoon?" McGonagall asked sharply when she saw him.

"I've come down to visit Hagrid, I haven't seen him all week. I always come down to see him at the end of the first week of every year," Harry exclaimed, wondering why McGonagall seemed so nervous.

"I am afraid you can't do that today, Potter. There are too many factors at hand to let you go down by yourself. Why don't you head back to your common room?" McGonagall exclaimed.

"But, _professor_," Harry complained, not really wanting to go back to Ron and Hermione's tense stairs and anger.

"No 'but professor' me, Potter," McGonagall said sternly, "Off you go."

"Why, professor, it's a pleasure seeing you here," a voice called out merrily behind them.

Harry quickly turned around and grinned when he saw that it was Sirius. Perhaps he would somehow allow McGonagall to allow Harry to go down and visit Hagrid, considering the circumstances.

"Good day to you, Sirius. I hope you are being treated well," McGonagall said sternly.

"Oh, never better. I was just about to head down to Hagrid's hut to see how he was faring. Harry is more than welcome to come with me," Sirius said, smiling down at Harry.

Harry smiled back, thankful that he had somebody on his side. He usually never had a teacher on his side, but considering the teacher was Sirius, he was glad to have one on his side now.

McGonagall frowned. "I had just informed Potter that he was not to go out. Certainly you have more sense than this, Sirius."

"Don't worry about it, Minerva, I do. But certainly it's all right for him to go out if a teacher is escorting him to wherever he wishes to go? Come now, nothing's going to happen between here and Hagrid's hut," Sirius said lazily.

McGonagall sighed. "Very well, but if I hear that he gains the merest scratch I'm going to take back my word and never allow you to do so again."

"Thanks ever so much, it's much appreciated. Harry," Sirius exclaimed, clapping a hand onto Harry's back, "let's go, shall we? We can't keep Hagrid waiting or he'll think something's happened."

With that, the two of them headed past McGonagall (who was glaring at them with her lips pursed tightly) and out the Entrance Hall. As the two of them headed down to Hagrid's, Harry grinned up at Sirius.

"Thanks for that bit. I don't know what I would've done otherwise," Harry commented.

"Hey, don't worry about it. That's what godfathers do, right?" Sirius grinned.

Harry smiled and nodded. "Right. But Sirius, why doesn't anybody want me to go outside alone? And you weren't really planning on visiting Hagrid, were you?" Harry asked.

"Well, for one, none of the teachers want you to go out alone because their afraid that Voldemort will snag you when nobody's around to watch over you, because certainly you are not ready to face him yet. And no, I wasn't really planning to visit Hagrid," Sirius said with a twinkle in his eye. "It was just an excuse to let you go see him."

Harry just grinned and shook his head. Sirius was just a like a kid, always wanting to bend the rules and getting away with everything. He reminded Harry of the Fred and George Weasely when they were in school—always getting into trouble but managed to get away with most of it.

When they reached Hagrid's hut, Fang began bellowing his excitement. From within the hut, Harry could hear Hagrid telling the dog to be quiet and to get back. When Hagrid finally opened the door, he his eyes widened with excitement as he saw Sirius and Harry and ushered them into the hut.

"It's good to see the both of yeh. I was wonderin' when you two were going to come down here. Come in, come in, and sit down. Would you two like a cup o' tea?" Hagrid asked as the two of them sat down at the chairs sitting around the table.

Both of them nodded and Hagrid began bustling around, making the tea. Yes, Harry thought, Hagrid was definitely his usual self.

"So how was your firs' week here?" Hagrid asked Harry as he set the cups down in front of them, sitting down in a chair himself.

Harry launched into everything that had happened including what Snape had down earlier today and Ron and Hermione's fight. Then he launched into how when he came down here to get away from the two of them, McGonagall tried to send him back up to the Gryffindor common room because he couldn't come down here by himself.

"Well, she does got a point, you know," Hagrid said when Harry was finished, "but I don't think she should've been so harsh and to not tell you why you couldn't come here by yourself. But I'm sure you already knew why you couldn't."

"Yeah, but I've been down here a million times by myself and nothing's ever happened," Harry protested.

"You don't know that, Harry," Sirius said, suddenly serious. "Just because someone is at a place where they think is safe, anything dangerous can happen."

"Yeah, I guess," Harry said, feeling downcast.

"Don't feel so blue, Harry, it's not going to be forever. Someday You-Know-Who's going to be defeated once and for all and you'll be able to live the rest of your life in peace," Hagrid said soothingly.

"Yeah, if he doesn't kill me first," Harry pointed out.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the hut. Fang trotted over to Harry and began slobbering into his lap. Harry began patting his head automatically, thinking over everything that had been said since the first day of school. He was sure that everyone was meaning well, but—

"Oh, I just forgot! Dumbledore was supposed to come for an important meeting and I never got around to doing it. I'm sorry, Harry, Sirius, but I'm going to have to cut your visitation short. I'm really sorry about this," Hagrid exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"It's perfectly alright, Hagrid," Sirius said, standing and motioning for Harry to follow him.

"Say, Harry, how 'bout you come down and visit with me tomorrow with Hermione and Ron? We'll be able to sit and chat for a bit longer, then," Hagrid said.

"I'll see what I can do," Harry said in bewilderment. This was the second time this year that Harry felt that Hagrid was holding something back. In fact, everyone around the castle was holding something back and it was making Harry feel on edge.

Reaching the Entrance Hall, Harry said goodbye to Sirius and headed up to the common room. There was something fishy going on around here and Harry didn't like it at all.


	10. Chapter 10

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Ten

The next several days suddenly seemed to be going fast for Harry. The Quidditch season was coming up fast, so the Quidditch practices were coming in full speed. Between homework and the practices, it seemed to Harry that he had barely time to catch his breath before he was launched into something else.

When September melted into October, the new month found Harry bending over his Potions homework in the library. It was a particularly difficult lesson and Harry really wanted to get this piece of homework finished. Partially, he wanted to impress Snape, though no matter how hard he worked on the paper, he knew that Snape would just call him a know-it-all and want to be like Hermione who knew all the answers.

"Hello, Harry," a voice said behind him and Harry nearly jumped in surprise when he saw that it was Cho Chang, his old crush from last year.

Harry grinned weakly and made some room to allow Cho to sit down next to him. When Cho sat down and gave Harry her usual sweet smile, Harry felt something inside him twinge even though he knew that he no longer cared for her in that way. Or did he? Nothing seemed certain anymore.

"What are you doing here in the library? I was watching you for a couple hours now and you have barely moved a muscle," Cho commented.

"I, uh, was trying to finish my Potions assignment. Snape gave a unusually difficult assignment today and I really wanted to do good on it, so I came down here," Harry said, inwardly beating himself up for being stupid.

"You're still taking Potions? I dropped that one after my fifth year, because it didn't pertain to what I wanted to do in life," Cho said, her smile still painted across her face.

"Well, I want to become an Auror, and that was one of the recommendations to become one," Harry said.

"I hear that people who want to become Aurors have to be in a bunch of advanced classes," Cho commented.

"Well, yeah, basically. I have Advanced Transfiguration, Advanced Potions, Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, plus Care of Magical Creatures, which obviously there's no advanced class for, really.

Cho nodded knowingly. "I'm going into Muggle Studies and banking. And possibly have a job in the Ministry. That's really all I want to do after Hogwarts. Nothing major like an Auror, but I do say that it's a gallant job to have, plus you'll get a lot of money."

"Oh, no doubt about that one. But that's not why I'm going into it. It just sounds interesting, so I want to get into it," Harry commented.

"So what are your friends Ron and Hermione wanting to be?" Cho said, continuing with the pleasantries.

"Well, Ron wants to be an Auror, too, and so does Hermione, but she's got other things on her list that she wants to do but I can't really remember what she said she was considering," Harry replied, wondering where this conversation was going.

Cho nodded. "That's good. But hey, I came over here to ask you if you wanted to Hogsmeade next weekend. They're having a Hogsmeade trip then," Cho said.

_Go to Hogsmeade with her?_ Harry's stomach flip-flopped. He remembered all too well about the one time he went there with her on Valentine's Day, which basically added in disaster when he told her that he had to go meet Hermione in the Three Broomsticks.

"I thought you were going out with that Michael what's-his-face? What happened to him?" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Well, if you don't want to, I could easily bring him along with me, after all, he _is_ my boyfriend," Cho said, standing up, "I just thought that you would like to go along as friends."

"Hey, Cho, wait! I would really like to go with you to Hogsmeade next weekend, I was just a little surprised that you wanted me to, is all. At the end of last year, I thought you couldn't have given me two rats tails. Please forgive me," Harry exclaimed jumping up from his seat.

Cho turned back around and smiled. "I thought you were going to say that. Next weekend then."

"Yeah," Harry said as Cho walked out the library, "next weekend."

It took Harry several minutes to shake himself out of his current state and go back to his Potions assignment. Imagine a beautiful girl like her wanting to go with the famous Harry Potter. But who wouldn't? After all, he _was_ famous and anyone wanted to be with him. This was something he had to tell Ron and Hermione.

Several hours later, Harry packed up and headed back to the common room. It was nine o'clock now and 6th years had to be in their dormitories by ten. As he walked back to the common room, he heard two people arguing around the corner.

"…He is not ready, he's only a teenager."

"He cannot be locked up and asked to stay inside while everyone else can go as they please. No one likes being held captive. You know how I hated that, like I was some kind of animal that couldn't take care of himself."

"_Yes_, but it's all for his own good."

Harry stopped short. What were they talking about? He had a strange feeling that it was about him, who else would they be keeping an eye out for and to keep from going outside for safety? Harry quickly walked around the corner to find Sirius and McGonagall standing at the corner of the hallway, looking shocked to find Harry standing there.

"Potter, what are you doing here?" McGonagall asked, her eyes narrowing down her face, "you should be up in your common room right now."

"Not until ten, professor," Harry said nervously, hoping that he wasn't about to get in trouble with a detention.

"It's dangerous for you to be out right now, Harry. Anything could be worse than you out here if Voldemort comes," Sirius said sternly, making Harry jump in surprise. Why would Sirius suddenly go on McGonagall's side instead of his?

"Professors, I mean no disrespect, but I don't think anything's going to happen while Dumbledore's around," Harry said.

"Potter, you are forgetting the end of your fourth year. Please think rationally that anything can happen," McGonagall said.

Harry's face suddenly looked sad and serious. How could he not remember the end of his fourth year when the Goblet of Fire turned into a Portkey and where Cedric was killed, Voldemort returned and Harry narrowly escaped with his life? Where Harry had found out that Professor Moody was an imposter?

"How could I forget, professor?" Harry asked, "when one of the worst things that could happen to me in my life happened to me at the end of my fourth year?"

McGonagall's face suddenly softened. She quickly gripped Harry's shoulder before letting her arm fall back to her side again. Rarely did she find any signs of sympathy to any one of her students.

"Yes, of course. How could you ever forget such horrors in your life? I'm sorry, Harry, just when you were memory of it was almost fading…" McGonagall sighed. "Go back up to your dormitory, Harry. You won't be in trouble for an old woman's worries."

Harry nodded and saying goodnight to both Sirius and McGonagall, headed up to his dormitory. So all of his suspicions were right, all the teachers wanted to keep him under their lock and key so Voldemort would have a harder chance at getting at him.

Reaching his dormitory, Harry flopped onto his bed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened. Finally, after a couple of hours of restless tossing, Harry finally fell asleep, with worries that weighed him down like no other.


End file.
